Mechanical casting rod



July 16, 1968 L. L. DIETSCH MECHANICAL CASTING ROD Filed June 14, 1965 o w 0m 0mm 3 N8 09 m. om own 8m 5 (5% 5 h n N! n {W n m om\. wv w 0 com 8 wow 3 Om I O5 @9 OD vm Om mm; m9

INVENTOR. LEE L. DI ETSCH 3,392,473 MECHANICAL CASTING ROD Lee L. Dietsch, 705 Rock Island Ave., Cherokee, Iowa 51012 Filed June 14, 1965, Ser. No. 463,585 6 Claims. (Cl. 43-19) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A casting gun having a fish line reel, a projectile engaging and supporting assembly, a spring plunger means for propelling the projectile holding assembly, the projectile engaging and supporting assembly having releasable resilient spaced fingers for holding a projectile, the projectile being secured to the fish line.

In the prior art plunger guns have been proposed which are not connected to projectile supporting receptacles, and in particular, are not connected to a projectile supported spring-finger assembly.

It is an object of this invention, however, to provide a mechanical casting rod of the general form of a gun of the rifle, shot-gun, or air rifle appearance, preferably having a stock adapted to be received against the shoulder for providing accurate aiming.

A further object of the invention is to provide a more practical way to utilize the power of a coiled spring to throw a weighted fish line accurately.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a special bobber and weight assembly for use with a mechanical casting rod as described in which the weight is received in the bobber in a special recess from which the weight can escape after the bobber has struck the water whereupon a sinking of the weight can continue until the suitable stop means of the fish line engages the bobber at a time when a fish hook on the forward side of the weight is 'disposed at an ideal spacing with respect to the bobber, as selected by the fisherman for the depth of fishing.

A further object of this invention is to provide means for receiving and holding a bobber as described on the forward end of a spring-actuated plunger in a manner for the release of the bobber at a time when the plunger has reached the forward limit of its travel.

Still another object is to provide a mechanical casting rod as described having an elongated barrel for receiving the plunger mentioned and in which a releasable springactuated piston is adapted to strike the plunger with impact for propelling the plunger forward.

Still another object is to provide an elongated tube mounted above the barrel of such a mechanical casting rod, the tube receiving the fish line and guiding it from a reel mounted adjacent the stock.

Still another object is to provide a suitable device for supporting a weight or the like upon the forward end of a plunger of such a casting rod, the supporting device being adapted to support weights or lures of various sizes andincluding casting plugs.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, drawings and claims, the scope of the invention not being limited to the drawings themselves as the drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating a way in which the principles of this invention can be applied.

Other embodiments of the invention utilizing the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the preview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

? nited States Patent FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the mechanical casting rod or gun of this invention with side portions thereof broken away for showing the interior construction.

FIGURE 2 is a detail showing the outer end of the plunger, a bobber, and a bobber-holding assembly of the invention substantially as seen in side elevation but with certain portions thereof removed for showing the interior.

FIGURE 3 is a view showing a modified forward end of the plunger for receiving weights or lures of various sizes, one of the latter being diagrammatically represented in dotted lines thereon.

FIGURE 4 is an end view of parts shown in FIGURE 3 asseen from the left-hand end thereof, other dotted lines showing the position of a smaller lure.

FIGURE 5 is a detail of a right-hand end of the gun of FIGURE 1, but showing a modified bobber and bobher-holding portion.

Referring to FIGURE 1, a mechanical casting rod or gun is shown at 10 having an elongated tubular barrel 12 supported in a stock 14 which latter extends a considerable distance rearwardly from a trigger 20 so as to provide a shoulder-engaging surface 28 similarly to an air rifle or shot-gun.

Above the barrel 12 an elongated tube 30 is mounted thereon and attached thereto, the tube 30 extending forwardly and rearwardly similarly to the barrel 12 and having an open interior 34 through which a fish line 36 is received, the rearward end of the fish line 36 extending into a reel 40 having a handle 42; the reel being mounted on the stock 14 by suitable mounting means 44.

The fish line 36 extends through a bobber generally indicated at 50, and more specifically through an opening 52 in bobber 50, as best seen in FIGURE 2, the opening 52 having outwardly flared forward walls 58; walls 58 diverge forwardly to receive therein a weight 60, which is provided with an outer side wall 62 which is of preferably frusto-conical shape complemental to the frusto-conical shape of the wall portion 58 for reception of the weight 60 therein.

The fish line 36 is impinged by the weight 60 sufiiciently that the weight 60 is in a fixed position on the fish line 36 and the fish line 36 extends forwardly from the weight 60 to a hook 70 disposed hanging downwardly from the forward end of the weight 60. Alternatively the fish line 36 can merely be slidably received on the weight 60, although this would dispose the weight 60 perhaps closer to the hook 70 than most fishermen would like.

As best seen in FIGURE 2, the bobber 50 is hollow on its interior 72 and is adapted to float.

The bobber is supported between a plurality of gripping fingers 78. The gripping fingers 78 may be of any suitable number and are spriugy or resilient, being formed of resilient material. The fingers 78 extend around the bobber 50 suflicientl-y to grip it firmly, although the resiliency of the fingers 78 is such that, as later described, when the plunger reaches the forward limit of its travel, the bobber 50 and its weight 60 will be thrown forwardly in such a manner as to cast them out much the same as would a casting rod of conventional type, but with greater accuracy. The fingers 78 can also be called spring leaves 78 and are shaped for defining a cavity 92 in which the bobber 50 is received.

The plunger 90 has at its rearward end a shock-absorbing assembly mounted thereon. The shock-absorbing assembly 140 is for the purpose of absorbing some of the impact from an impact head of a sliding rod 158, later described.

The plunger 90 extends forward from the impact absorbing assembly 140 through a coiled spring and through a limit member 164 which has an aperture 166 through its center of the barrel 12 at a point forwardly of the spring 160 and rearwardly of, but near, the forward end of the barrel 12. The limit member has its aperture 166 closely fitting the plunger 90 so as to serve as a bearing for the plunger 90 to cause the plunger 90 to travel straight and axially of the cylindrical bore 168 of the barrel 12.

The shock-absorbing assembly 140 snugly but slidably fits the bore 168 for maintaining the rearward end of the plunger in alignment with the axis of the cylindrical bore 168 and the assembly 140 is cylindrical on its outer side for that purpose.

The spring 160 is a compression spring and its rearwardmost part 170 is disposed a substantial distance forwardly of the shock-absorbing assembly 140, whereby the shock-absorbing assembly 140 will not strike the spring 160 until it has been free first to travel a substantial distance, whereupon when it strikes the spring 160, its forward travel will then be stopped, but not abruptly, but instead its forward travel will be resiliently stopped by the spring 160.

The impact head 150 is cylindrical on its outer surface and is designed for snugly and slidably fitting within the bore 168 of the barrel 12 for maintaining the forward end of the sliding rod 188 in alignment with the axis of the bore 168.

A rearward wall 200 is disposed in the rearward end of the barrel 12 and secured thereto and has an opening 202 therethrough which has a cylindrical wall 204 extending coaxially with the axis of the barrel 12 and snugly receiving therein the sliding rod 158.

The sliding rod 158 has a rearward end portion 210 which engages an arm 220 of a bell crank assembly 230 which pivots about a pin 232 extending horizontally in the stock 14 in a cavity 236 therein, the bell crank assembly 230 having a second arm 238 extending forwardly and upwardly into a position where it engages an upper end 240 of the trigger 20, the upper end 240 being urged rearwardly by a tension spring 244 fixed at a rearward and lower end 246 to the stock 14 by a pin 250. The upper end 240 of the trigger is prevented from excess rearward motion by a trigger stop 258 fixed to the stock 14 which engages the upper portion 240 of the trigger 20, preventing the upper end of the trigger from moving rearwardly beyond a point of engagement with the arm In order to cock the gun, a cocking lever 290 is pulled forwardly and downwardly at its rearward end 292 in a conventional manner as the lever 290 pivots about a horizontal axis defined by a pin 296 attached to the stock 214. The lever 290 has its forward end 310 received in a recess 300 in the barrel 12 for this purpose.

When the operator desires to cock the gun, the pulling forward and downward of the rearward end 292 of the lever 290 will cause the forward end 310 of the lever to move upward and rearwardly for engaging and pressing rearwardly on the impact head 150 for causing the sliding rod 158 to move rearwardly into a position such that its engagement with the arm 220 has rotated the bell crank 230 into a position such that its arm 238 will have moved forwardly and upwardly first urging forward and then passing across the upper end of the trigger 20 until the arm 238 is in the cocked position shown in FIGURE 1. Thereafter, the gun is cocked and ready to shoot.

To shoot the gun, the operator pulls the trigger 20 releasing the arm 238, whereupon a cocking arm 370 attached to the bell crank 230 between the arms 220 and 238 moves forwardly and downwardly in a clockwise direction, as seen in FIGURE 1, for releasing an enlarged rearward end 210 of the sliding rod 158 so that the sliding rod 158 can travel forwardly swiftly and with power supplied by a compression spring 380 which is disposed in the barrel 12 forwardly of the rear wall 204 and -between the rear wall 204 and the impact head 150. The

release of the spring 380 will then drive the impact head 150 against the shock-absorbing assembly forcing the plunger 90 forwardly with a suflicient force as to cast loose and propel the bobber 50. When the bobber 50 has reached a target point in the water, the weight 60 will fall therefrom by gravity and will sink in the water, carying the hook 30 downward, as desired, until the further travel of the line 36 therethrough is arrested. One means for bringing about such arrest will be later defined in connection with the modification of FIGURE 5.

Some further discussion of the cocking is in order. It will be seen that as the impact head is pressed rearwardly, the compression spring 380 will be compressed and as the enlarged end 210 of the sliding rod .158 presses the arm 220 rearwardly, the arm 370 will move upwardly into a position for engaging the forward side of the enlarged portion 210. This is because the outer end of the arm 370 has a distance from the pin 232 which is lesser than the distance of the outer end of the arm 220 from the pin 232. Also the arm 370 is of a length such that when the parts are in the cooked position shown in FIGURE 1, the arm 370 will be disposed forwardly of a lower portion of the enlarged portion 210 for preventing forward motion of the enlarged portion 210.

Upon release of the sliding rod 158, the bell crank 230 is free to turn in a clockwise direction, as seen in FIGURE 1, until such time as the arm 370, strikes a limit pin 420 fixed to the stock 14 between the arms 220 and 238.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, it will be seen that if the projectile supporting assembly 450 of FIGURE 2 is threadedly removed from a threaded recess 500 in the forward end of the forward tip 510 of the plunger 90, then a substitute projectile supporting assembly 520 can be put in its place as it also has a rearwardly extending threaded protrusion 524, best seen in FIGURE 3, which is threadedly engageable in the opening 500 of the tip 510.

The projectile supporting assembly 520 of the modification of FIGURE 3, however, differs in that it has two fingers which extend first downwardly and then forwardly from the protrusion 524, the downward portions being shown at 562 and the forwardly extending portions being shown at 564.

The forwardly extending portions 564 are spaced apart a lesser distance than the horizontal width of a projectile shown in dotted lines at 600. The projectile 600 can be a bobber or a fishing plug or a weight, as desired, and it is supported on the portions 564. When the gun is fired, the projectile 600 will be thrown forwardly by engagement with the portions 562 at its rearward side and will be released freely because the portions 564 extend only horizontally, whereby the projectile 600 slides off when forward motion of the plunger 90 is arrested, as above described. A smaller projectile 602 is also shown in FIGURE 4 1n dotted lines to indicate that projectiles of various sizes can be supported on the modification 520 of the projectile supporting assembly.

Referring now to FIGURE 5, a further modification is shown in which a bobber 700 is illustrated which is in all respects similar to the bobber 50 earlier described with the significant exception, however, that the outer side walls 702 of the bobber 700 are cylindrical and, because of that, a modified projectile supporting assembly 710 is provided having fingers 712 which are resilient and springy and press inwardly against the side walls 702, the fingers 7.12 snugly but slidably receiving the projectile 700 therebetween.

In FIGURE 5, a fish line 740 is there shown which has a leader portion 742 extending rearwardly from the bobber 700, the leader portion being secured to a readwardmost portion 746 by a fitting 748. A stop member 750 is shown extending around the leader 742 forwardly of the fitting 748 and snugly fitting the leader 742, whereby during passage of a weight 760 out of the bobber 700, the leader 742 will be pulled through the bobber until the stop member 750 has engaged the bobber 700 at the wall 770 of an inner passage 780 therethrough. As the stop member 750 is of a larger size than the passage 780, it will not pass therethrough and if its spacing from the hook 790 has been carefully selected, then the hook 790 will be disposed at a fishing depth determined thereby as desired.

From the foregoing description, it is thought to be obvious that a mechanical casting rod constructed in accordance with my invention is particularly well adapted for use, by reason of the convenience and facility with which it may be assembled and operated, and it will also be obvious that my invention can, be changed and modified without departing from the principles and spirit thereof, and for this reason, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise arrangement and formation of the several parts herein shown in carrying out my invention in practice, except as claimed.

I claim:

1. A casting gun comprising: a projectile, means securing a fishing line to said projectile, a fishing reel, a main body member, means mounting said fishing reel on said main body member in a position for delivering line as said projectile leaves said gun, a projectile engaging and supporting assembly having means thereon for supporting said projectile at times when said gun is held in a shooting position, said main body member having a barrel having a bore, a plunger assembly mounted in said bore for longitudinal sliding movements with respect thereto, said plunger assembly being disposed in the forward end of said bore and having a 'forward end connected to said projectile supporting and engaging assembly, means for preventing said plunger assembly from completely escaping from the forward end of said bore, an impact rod assembly at least partially disposed in said bore rearwardly of said plunger assembly, a spring operably associated with said impact rod assembly and with said barrel for urging said impact rod assembly forwardly into collision with the rearward end of said plunger assembly during expansion of said spring, a cocking assembly operably correlated with said impact rod assembly for moving said impact rod assembly rearwardly for compressing said spring, a releasable catch and trigger mechanism operably associated with said main body member and with said impact rod assembly for holding said impact rod assembly in a rearward position at a time when said trigger and catch assembly is in cocked position and for releasing said impact rod assembly at a time when said trigger and catch assembly is in releasing position whereby said impact rod assembly can travel forward striking and propelling the plunger assembly, said projectile engaging and supporting assembly comprising a plurality of resilient spring fingers extending around a plurality of sides of said projectile for defining a cavity therein in which said projectile is received, the resiliency of said fingers being such that said projectile is released upon the stoppage of forward motion of said plunger assembly.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which said projectile has a floating bobber portion and a weight portion, said floating bobber portion having an opening extending therethrough, said fish line extending through said opening,said weight portion being disposed on said fish line in fixed relationship with said fish line during fishing operation, a forward end of said opening in said bobber having an inner wall of a size for receiving at least a portion of said weight therein, said weight and said opening being shaped for permitting the slidable release of said weight from the forward end of said opening after said bobber has struck the water during fishing.

3. The combination of claim 2 in which said portion of said weight which is disposed in said bobber has a surface which has opposite sides inclining toward each other at the rearward ends thereof in a wedge-like manner, said bobber having surfaces of the wall of said opening disposed opposite said inclining surfaces of said weight which incline toward each other complementally to said surfaces of said weight, whereby said weight can be wedged between the wall of said opening.

4. The combination of claim 1 in which said main body member has a stop portion of a rifle-like nature for placement against the shoulder of the user.

5. The combination of claim 1 in which an elongated tube is mounted above said barrel in parallelism with the bore of said barrel, said tube receiving a portion of said fish line disposed between said reel and said projectile for guiding said fish line.

6. The combination of claim 1 in which a hook means is secured to said projectile.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 221,302 11/1879 Hale 12427 X 764,853 7/1904 Kimberlin 43-19 899,448 9/ 1908 Grobl.

2,849,824 9/1958 McGee 43-19 3,001,316 9/1961 Fefelov 43-19 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,075,821 4/ 1954 France.

SAMUEL KOREN, Primary Examiner.

D. J. LEACH, Assistant Examiner. 

